Improvement in knapsacks



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEO AUGUSTUS N. CLARK, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO RUBBER lLOTHING COMPANY.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNAPSACKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,936, dated March 17,1863.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, A. N. CLARK, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk andState of Massachusetts, ha-ve invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Knapsacks; and I do hereby declare that the followingdescription, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings,hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact specification of thesame, wherein I have set forth the nature and principles of my saidimprovements by which my invention may be distinguished from all othersof a similar class, together with such parts as I claim and desire to'have secured to me by Letters Patent.

One very serious disalvantage arising from the use of knapsacks forsoldiers, with the mode of attachment as now arranged, and whichconduces very much to the inconvenience and discomfort of the soldierwearing the same, is that the straps or other means employed for thesecuring of the knaps'ack to the back would not admit of beingsoadjusted or arranged as to conform, or be easily adapted to the varyingsizes and dimensions of theback, shoulders, &c. The most common way ofarranging these straps has been to permanently fasten at one end, to thecenter, or the upper edge of the knapsack, two straps, to the other endsof each ot' which two other straps were jointed so as to freely turn.Thus, when the knapsack was placed upon the back and the straps thrownover the shoulders7 one ot' the jointed straps in each case was hookedto the body-belt, and the other passed directly under the armpit andhooked or buckled to the lower edge of the knapsack. Now, it is evidentfrom the above description that as no mode was provided for altering oradjusting the lengths of the straps permanently secured to the knapsack,the point of the said straps at which the fastening-straps were attachedwould vary in its relative position upon the chest ofthe person wearingthe knapsack, according as he was full-chested and stout, ornarrow-chested and slim, thereby producing in some cases, when the saidpoint was too high or near the shoulders, a very unpleasant and uneasyfeeling, and a slight binding or chaiing of the arm-pit, 85e.

The object aimed at and secured by the present invention is to soarrange the means employed for securing the kuapsack to the back ofpersons as to permit of its being altered or adjusted in such a manneras to be easily adapted to the back of any person, whether stout orslim. I accomplish this result by attaching to the lower edge of theknapsack at its center, by means of a buckle or other suitable device, astrap, to the other end of which, near the center of the knapsack, tworadiating-straps are permanently fastened at an angle to the same, andthen passed through guides upon the top portion ot` the knapsack, overthe shoulders ot the person wearing the knapsack. Two swinging-strapsare then attached to the end of the angular straps resting upon thechest, one of which straps in each case is hooked to the body-belt, andthe other passed under the armpit to the lower edge ot' the knapsack.The length ofl the strap attached to the lower edge of the knapsack atits center, by means of the buckle or other suitable device, is thussusceptible of being regulated at pleasure, so as to vary the positionofthe point upon the chest of persons, from which the fastening-strapsare respectively passed to the body-belt and the lower edge of theknapsack, thereby permitting the same to be always placed at its mostadvantageous position, and the one most adapted to the comfort of theperson wearing the knapsack.

Another great advantage secured by my improvements over all others isthe obviating in a great measure of the unpleasant and burdensome strainupon the shoulders, caused by the weight of the knapsack and itscontents, which has been greatly increased by the 1nanner in which theattach ment-straps have been heretofore secured to the knapsack, the.tendency of the knapsack and its contents being to pull oft' from theshoulders, and thus cause the person to bend forward in order to keepthe knapsack in proper position, whereas my improvements produce anopposite result, the top ot' the knapsack being held up to the back, andthe lower portion being allowed to swing off, the benecial results ofwhich are appar ent without further explanation.

In the accompanying plate of drawn gs, Figurel is a front view of aknapsack with my im proved mode of attachment applied thereto. Fig. 2 isa central vertical transverse section of same.

a a in the accompanying drawings represent the box-portion of a knapsaokthat is covered with rubber cloth, leather, or any other suitablematerial, and arranged in the ordinary nainer. To the lower edge, b,ofthe knapsack a, and in'its center, a buckle, c, is permanently secured,through which a strap, d, is passed and buckled.

f f are straps sewed or otherwise fastened to the end g of the strap d,and which pass upward at an angle to the said strap d, and throughguides h h of the'top surface, j, of the knapsack and near each end ofthe same,

lm and Z m areY the fastening-'straps attached to the end n of thestraps ff, so as to turn loose'y thereon, one of which Z, l', in eachcase hooks to the body-belt, and the other, m m', to the lower edge ofthe knapsack.

By means of the buckle c, above referred to, it is evident that thelength of the portion n of the strap g above the same can be adjusted atVpleasure by simply moving the strap through the buckle in the ordinarymanner, and consequently the turning-point n of the i a tenin gstrapscan be varied in position upon the chest of the person wearing theknapsack, and thus be made to suit the varying dimensions of the chest,Snc., in different persons, and to always allow the said turningpoint tobe placed in the position most suitable and most adapted to the comfortand ease of the person.

From the above description it will be seen that by hanging theknapsackin the manner described-that is, at the upper edge--instead of thecommon way, at the center, the knapsack is prevented from pulling offfrom the shoulders and back, and is also firmly and securely held up tothe same, the advantages of which are'readily apparent.

Having thus described my improvements,

what I claim as my invention, and desire to have secured to me byLetters Patent, is-

The combination, with shoulder-straps radi ating from an adjustablecenter-strap, as described, of guides or loops Xed to the upper side ofthe lrnapsack, the whole being arranged together, and operatingsubstantially as described, and for the purposes specified.

AUGUSTUS N. CLARK. Witnesses:

J osEPH GAVETT. ALBERT W. BROWN. Y

